478 
TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING 
in hot water and applying them to the desired parts while hot and covering 
them with oil silk or some other air-tight material, and in regions where they 
cannot be kept in position we content ourselves with ordering the parts simply 
bathed with hot water. 
That these methods are extremely laborious, troublesome and in many in¬ 
stances inefficient is admitted by all, and I have no doubt that many attempts 
have been made to improve upon them. 
Spongis piline is perhaps the only substitute that has been offered to the 
profession as a convenient vehicle to apply heat and moisture, and while it 
does its work well it is hardly applicable in veterinary practice on account of 
its high price and its many other disadvantages. 
To devise some other means of applying fomentations and poultices than the 
antiquated methods referred to has occupied considerable of my time and at¬ 
tention for a number of years, and upon trying a variety of substances 1 found 
one, which I considered of sufficient value to experiment with for months, and 
I am pleased to say that my time and labor has not been entirely wasted,’for in 
my own practice I have employed it extensively for a long time and with most 
satisfactory results. 
The substance referred to is a herbaceous plant found in swampy and shady 
localities in many sections of the United States and is known as moss. Dr. 
Muhlenberg, of Lancaster, Pa., in 1827, describes over 170 varieties, all of 
which possess the power of imbibing and retaining large quantities of moisture 
and seem to have a peculiar resistance against the actions of ferments, for I have 
never known moss to become foul or offensive no matter how long or in what 
way employed. Some of the mosses are extremely coarse, with woody stems 
and ill developed short leaves. The plant I have adopted as a substitute for oil 
meal and woolen cloths, is a very fine, long, thin-stemmed vegetable, with soft, 
slender long stems and branches well coated with large serrated leaves. 
Carefully conducted experiments have proved that this variety at least is 
positively non-irritating even to the most delicate and sensitive surfaces, but 
that it possesses properties which I believe will in time give it a prominent place 
among the remedial agents of the United States Pharmacopiae. 
1st. Moss possesses the power of retaining moisture for a longer period than 
any other substance known, and if properly protected by air-tight coverings it 
will retain heat fully as long if not longer than ground flaxseed. 
2d. If applied to the body in a proper manner it can be kept saturated with¬ 
out removal or re-application, thus avoiding a great deal of time and labor to 
attendant, risk of exposure and annoyance to patient. 
3d. It can be rendered antiseptic, astringent, anodyne or irritating as de¬ 
sired by saturating with such solutions, and affords a most convenient and effica¬ 
cious means of dressing wounds. 
4th. It is soft, pliable and suitably elastic and will adapt itself to almost any 
position where no poultice or surgical dressing can be applied. 
5th. It is cleanly, cheap, and if properly prepared, extremely easy of ap¬ 
plication. 
Recognizing these properties and realizing the difficulties almost always met 
with in placing and retaining in position poultices, fomentations and surgical 
